In Australia, lab-grown diamonds represent 50 to 60 percent of the market. There are predictions that the number could be 70 percent by the end of 2026.Â
One carat. Mined. $7,000 to $8,000.
Lab-grown. Under $500.
Two carats?
Mined. $20,000 or more.
Lab-grown?
$750.
The product has become a commodity.
That’s not a threat. That’s a test.
The lab-grown diamond holds up a mirror to your business. It tells you exactly what you’ve built.
If you are in the business of selling rocks…you are in trouble. Rocks are everywhere, cheaper, and increasingly indistinguishable.
You can’t win that fight.
But relationship builders are in the strongest position they’ve ever been.
Why?
Because the product was never the point. The moment was. The story was.
The person standing in front of you, terrified they’ll make a poor choice, more terrified that they won’t be able to find the right one…that’s the piece that hasn’t changed at all.
If anything, it’s more important.
The only question you need to answer is whether you can make this person feel safe?
Because safe customers spend more, come back, and never price shop you on the internet.
The Moment of Contact
There is a fork in any transaction. It comes quickly.
Often, when you make your greeting.
“How can I help you?” vs. “What are we celebrating?”
The first question is fine.
But look at what it does. It puts the buyer in control.
It is easy to default to “just looking around.” The salesperson is a background player…waiting for permission to engage.
The second question is entirely different.
The salesperson is in control from the start.
It’s both an invitation and a lead.
The salesperson opens the door to a story. You are creating a conversation instead of waiting for it.
This may seem like a sales technique, but it is not.
It’s a human technique.
Good bartenders use it. Good waiters. Good concierges.
They ask what you are celebrating…not what you are drinking. They get more tips, more recognition, because they aren’t just taking an order or giving suggestions.
They are part of a story.
The same move works in a jewelry store.
Actually, it works better because the moment is bigger.
The order-taker hears, “I’m looking for an engagement ring” and starts pulling trays.
The relationship builder hears the same thing and says, “Tell me about your partner.”
The first path might get you a transaction. The second path leads to a story.
The story is where the magic actually happens.
Digging Deeper
The first question opens the door. The next questions push through it.
The relationship builder doesn’t stop with “What are we celebrating?” and “Tell me about your partner.”
They go further.
Not as an interrogation. To understand.
Imagine the customer says, “I’m going to get engaged on the beach.”
The order-taker hears a location and thinks, “Beach. I know this one.”
The relationship builder hears a story waiting to be told.
“What is special about the beach? Is there a spot you like to walk? What colors does it remind you of? If you had to give me one word to describe the feeling you get thinking about the beach, what would it be?”
These aren’t throwaways.
They are building blocks…of a bigger picture.
Not just of the customer, but of the person the customer is buying for.
The partner. The moment. The meaning.
When the jeweler brings out a ring…it isn’t just a ring.
No. It’s the beach. It’s the place they stop. It’s the colors. It’s that one word that matters.
That’s magic.
Not because the salesperson is clever. Because the customer feels seen.
The order-taker sells a product. The relationship builder gets a story and makes it tangible.
That tangible moment is when the customer moves from price shopper to partner.
From checking the internet for a better deal to being on a journey.
The Sephora Problem
I walked into Sephora recently.
Not busy. More staff on the floor than customers in the store.
The person closest to us as we entered just stood there, looking bored.
Never acknowledging us.
My wife wanted a specific product and didn’t know where it was located. She looked around for a second.
Then she said it: “Why am I buying this at the store? I can order it from Amazon and save $10.”
Womp. Womp.
What happened in that moment? What did my wife need?
Not just a location.
She wanted a guide. A partner. A moment of human connection.
Someone to say, “How can I help you? What are you trying to solve? Let me help you make the choice or, maybe, even a better one.”
Instead, crickets.
This is what we get wrong about modern customers.
We tell ourselves that they’re educated before they walk in the door.
They’ve done research. They know exactly what they want.
We are just there to fulfill the order.
It’s a myth.
An expensive one at that.
People may be educated. They may think they know exactly what they want. But they are still open to taking a journey with someone skilled in helping them make the right decision…or an even better one.
It happened to me the last time I bought a car.
I mapped out everything online.
I knew the model. I knew the features. I’d priced the whole thing out.
Then, I took a test drive with a salesperson who walked me through the car, shared how he used his. Showed me tricks, features, and tools that would make the ownership experience even better.
He was my partner.
I ended up spending 10 percent more than I initially planned.
Not because of high pressure sales techniques.
No.
Because once I had a guide, I could see all the things I’d been missing.
Sephora lost that sale for the same reason a jewelry store loses a sale.
Not because the product was wrong. Not because the selection was limited. Not even because of the price.
No. The sale was lost because no one offered to guide the journey. To engage with the human who walked into the store.
So, my wife defaulted to price shopping.
And price shoppers go directly to the internet.
You lose.
All of this maps to two of the most important questions in strategy:
“Who is the customer?”
The order-taker answers: “Someone looking for a ring.”
The relationship builder answers: “A young man who is about to make the biggest decision of his life and he’s afraid he’s going to get it all wrong. He knows that his girlfriend loves a vintage feel. She loves the beach, and they’ve spent great times there. So he’s going to take her to the beach to propose. And she has a ring of her grandmother’s that she has always wanted to update.”
One customer. Two different approaches.
One is a transaction. The other is a relationship.
One is an entirely different business than the other.
“Why us?”
The order-taker says, “We have the ring for you.”
The relationship builder knows they have the right ring because they’ve taken the time to understand the person, the moment, and the context.
One is “Always Be Closing,” and the other isn’t a close at all. Because when you get it right, you aren’t making a sales pitch.
Instead, it is a moment of discovery.
The customer sees the ring, and the block breaks.
They say something like, “That’s it. That’s exactly what I wanted. I just couldn’t put it into words.”
Not because they didn’t know what they wanted. Because the moment felt overwhelming. Every moment felt too heavy to leave to chance.
The size of the purchase. The meaning. The decision. Fear.
All of these moments build up. They create a block.
The order-taker adds more product. The relationship builder helps them see past it.
This is the same thing that happens when someone buys their first home.
The consequences are enormous. The buyer feels every one of them.
A great guide doesn’t just show houses. They help you find a place to call home.
That way, when they make the purchase, they feel safe buying, and feel good about their decision.
The relationship builder’s “Why us?” isn’t a product claim, inventory depth, or best price.
It’s about the relationship…the trust.
Something that can’t be easily replaced.
The order-taker is just making a sale.
Something that can be easily replaced. Eventually, always replaced.
The Numbers Only Tell Part of the Story
The store feels slow.
The numbers say something different.
Revenue is up. The average sale is up. The conventional metrics say the business is healthy.
But the owner feels something in those quiet moments between customers: the foot traffic isn’t there.
The store is emptier. Fewer people are walking in. Browsing.
That’s a trap.
According to Retail Edge Consultants, which tracks more than 400 independent jewelry stores in Australia and New Zealand, that pattern is consistent.Â
Revenue is up. Unit sales are down. Average sale is up.
Month after month.
The business isn’t growing. It is concentrating.
Fewer customers. Higher value per customer. Each visit carries more commercial weight than it ever has before.Â
That seems like opportunity. But it’s really a warning.
When foot traffic declines, two things start happening.
First, the perception of the jewelry gift starts to erode.
People don’t see the store as busy, so they don’t feel the urgency to check things out.
They don’t see other people buying so they start to question whether they should buy.
A huge part of the jewelry purchase is perception. If the store is empty and the purchase doesn’t feel urgent or special, it stops feeling like a luxury or a gift at all.
Second, the customer who does walk in now needs to justify their purchase.
They are calculating. Justifying. Price shopping on the way home.
It comes down to asking themselves if the experience is worth it.
If the store doesn’t give them a reason to feel seen, they price shop.
No guide. No celebration. No pricing power.
Price shoppers go to the internet.
Again, perception.
That’s the situation: revenue is up on a shrinking customer base. That’s not growth. It’s the sound of a business hollowing out from the inside.
Proof
Francesca Jewellery didn’t start with data.
For over a decade, she couldn’t avoid the customer. The business was built on being close to them. Every sale was a conversation. Every conversation a lesson.Â
That’s the kind of customer knowledge data can’t match.Â
Most jewelers know what they sold last month.
Francesca learned why someone bought from them instead of from the stall next door.Â
They learned nuance. They learned the moments that made jewelry meaningful. They learned the difference between a purchase and a gift.Â
Let me put this in commercial terms.
Most businesses segment their markets based on demographics.
Age. Income. Postcode.
Francesca segments by people. They can put real names and faces to the market segments she serves.Â
When they makes decisions, they are not dependent on a dashboard. They see a person…flesh and blood.Â
That’s a relationship builder.
It is the opposite of the order-taker model.
The order-taker asks, “How can I help you?” and hears a transaction waiting to happen.
Francesca asks, “What are we celebrating?” and hears a story.
Ten years of asking that question, over and over, built something that no data can match: a clear understanding of what customers want, not just data that says what they bought.
That’s a competitive advantage.
Not the product. Not the price. Not the selection.
The understanding.
Products can be copied. Prices can be undercut. Selection can be matched.
The understanding can’t be repeated because it lives in the relationship. And the relationship is real because it lives between you and the customer.
The Mirror
The lab-grown diamond held up a mirror to your business.
What is your business built on?
Selling rocks?
Rocks are everywhere now. Cheaper. Indistinguishable.
You can’t win that fight.
Relationships?
You’re in the strongest position you’ve ever been.
The product was never really the point.
The story was. The meaning. The person in front of you.
Now…that person is a test.
The next customer who walks through the door. The next person nervous, terrified, or in love.
That moment matters.
You get to choose.
“How can I help you?”
“What are we celebrating?”
Transaction or relationship?
Replaceable or irreplaceable?
The mirror already told you what your business is. The next customer tells you what your business will become.
Which path will you pick?
You’ve scored your business. Maybe you are in the danger zone.
Hit reply. Let’s talk about getting you out of the danger zone.